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China plans to release two giant pandas, Qinxin and Xiao Hetao (“Little Walnut”), into the wild from a national nature reserve in southwest China’s Sichuan province on Dec. 27.

This will be the first time for the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas to free captive-bred giant pandas into the wild in Dujiangyan, a county-level city in Chengdu, according to news portal ThePaper.

Dubbed the “habitat for giant pandas,” the panda base in Dujiangyan focuses on protecting giant pandas, Sichuan golden monkeys, takins, and other national protected wildlife species. The release of the two pandas is expected to maintain genetic diversity and boost the local population of wild pandas.

The roughly two-year-old pandas have received special training to prepare them for the wild and they have gained relatively strong skills for survival, including seeking food and water sources, locating safe areas, and receiving warning signals.

By the end of 2017, China trained 25 captive-bred giant pandas to adapt to the wild and released nine of them. Seven of the released pandas successfully survived in the wild, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The number of captive pandas currently reached 548 worldwide by this November, of which 482 are bred in Sichuan, China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration said recently, adding that a healthy, dynamic, and sustainable giant panda population has basically formed, laying a solid foundation for preserving these cute creatures.